Gagne, Post 7 silence Booma

Saturday

Jul 5, 2014 at 3:15 AM

By Al Pikeapike@fosters.com

ROCHESTER — Josh Gagne had a “jelly bean” going through six innings Friday. That’s player code for no-hitter.

Although he lost the rarity in the seventh, the right-hander turned in a sweet performance for the Rochester Post 7 American Legion baseball team in a 7-1 win over Portsmouth’s Booma Post 6 at Bert George Field.

Gagne allowed four hits in eight innings with eight strikeouts and one walk as Post 7 improved to 5-2 in District B with its second straight victory.

Booma’s Kyle Maurice broke-up the no-hit bid with a double leading off the seventh.

“Josh was a little more efficient today than he has been in the past,” said Post 7 coach BJ Gagnon. “We haven’t really been able to get him through six. We haven’t been able to get him over that hump. His pitch count has been pretty deep. It’s better. He attacked the strike zone today and we played really good defense.”

Gagne also homered in the eighth inning for one of Rochester’s 14 hits. However, his effort on the mound was the focal point afterward.

“He kept us off balance, threw strikes and got ahead in the count,” said Booma coach Mark McCauley, whose club dipped to 4-5. “He did all the things a pitcher needs to do. We just couldn’t figure him out and we got down early. It was a quick game for him.”

While Gagne was doing his thing on the mound, his teammates staked him to an early lead at the plate with a run in the first and two more in the third.

Justin Jewell delivered all three with an RBI single in the first and a two-run single in the third.

Post 7 also scored once in the seventh and twice in the eighth. Portsmouth’s only run came in the eighth on an RBI single by Dillon Crosby that scored Brian Hagan, who doubled.

“(Gagne) pounded the zone, got ahead of guys all day and we played solid defense,” Gagnon said. “When you get ahead of guys and throw strikes all day long it’s easier to play defense, and that’s what he did today.”

Rochester’s Ricky Creteau went 3 for 4 with a double, a sacrifice fly and two runs scored.

“We had plate discipline,” Creteau said. “We worked the count and then found the pitches we wanted.”

Jewell went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a run. Michael Bellio also went 3 for 4 for Post 7 with two runs. Ben Gravel was 2 for 3.

“(The offense) is getting better,” Gagnon said. “We’re starting to square the baseball up a little bit more and stay to the middle of the field.”

Lucas Hartmann and Danny Philbrick also had hits for Post 6. Hagan, Booma’s starting pitcher, gave up five runs and nine hits in seven innings.

“You’ve got to score runs early and match their runs, and we didn’t,” McCauley said. “We were flat. It has to do with the fact that we’re playing a very good team (that) has a good pitcher on the mound. We just didn’t do enough to be competitive early.”

With the threat of rain Friday, the game was moved from noon to 10 a.m.

“We were really hoping to get out to an early lead,” Gagnon said. “We didn’t know if we were going to get to the fifth inning today. We had no clue. But we got through it pretty fast. Thank God the weather held off and we got the W.”

“It’s a big win,” Creteau said. “It’s the second one in a row. We’re trying to get on a roll here.”